Truth or Dare
by Livvie
Summary: Stand-Alone Fic. Stephanie and Hunter ring in their first new year together...and it's just one revelation after another


Summary: It's not just a child's game.   
  
Rating: At the end...a little bit of...um...stuff. Nothing really 'big', but I know there's some younger fans on these boards. Use your own judgement if you're a younger reader, maybe wait a couple years? But like I said, nothing explicit or anything. So you're pretty safe if you decide you just have to read this.   
  
This story is meant to take place shortly after Stephanie and Hunter's drive-thru wedding in Vegas. Hunter and Stephanie spend their first New Year's Eve together. In this little world, they have just married in Vegas and they aren't exactly blissful newlyweds.   
  
  
Truth or Dare 1/1  
  
  
"I—I once ran through my sorority house in nothing but a pair of coconuts and a grass skirt. And the skirt…was missing pieces." She choked out.  
  
"Ooohhhh…" he laughed. "You wild one." He teased, but inwardly, thought that was something he really, really would have liked to have seen. Very much so.  
  
"Your—your turn. Truth or Dare?" Stephanie asked, her eyes still watering at the memory.  
  
"Ehhh…Dare."  
  
"Oh. Okay. Ummm…I dare you to finish drinking that can of beer—"  
  
"That's it? Come on princess, a little creativity, please!"   
  
"—You didn't let me finish! I dare you to finish drinking the can of beer….in one swallow…while…while you're jumping up and down!" She improvised, feeling rather stupid that her original dare actually had been for him to just finish the can of beer.  
  
Hunter looked at her, his chest heaving, as though he were trying not to bust out laughing and about to fail miserably.  
  
"Yeah. Allright then." He stood gingerly, began jumping and started downing the can of beer.  
  
Stephanie swallowed hard as she observed the play of his throat muscles as he gulped back the beer...she quickly looked to the floor, hoping to hide any reaction she was sure was blatant in her face.  
  
Hunter sat back down on the huge chair heavily. Slightly out of breath, but having successfully completed his dare without throwing up, he was in good spirits. "Your turn!" He told her brightly. "Truth or dare, Steph."  
  
"Uh….Truth?"  
  
"Gee, how would I have guessed? Maybe because you've chosen truth all night?"  
  
She smiled awkwardly. " You're the one who thought of playing this game, to pass time until we get to chime in the New Year…and I…suck at dares." She confessed.  
  
"Okay. Why?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"That's my question…why do you suck at dares?"  
  
"I guess….I feel awkward that's all…you don't know what somebody's going to make you do…I don't like being in that position."  
  
"It makes you vulnerable." He muttered.  
  
Startled at his astuteness, she nodded. "Yes. I—I don't like that."  
  
He stared back at her for a moment. "No…" he said slowly. "No…somebody like you wouldn't."  
  
She felt her spine stiffen at his words. "What do you mean by that now? Somebody like 'me'?"  
  
"You need to be in control, all the time, Stephanie. It's just who you are, you need to be the one running things."  
  
"Is there something so wrong with that?" She demanded hotly.  
  
"No, not really. It's just…sometimes you can't be in control of things. Sometimes…other people are the ones in control, and you need to understand it's gonna happen."  
  
Confused, she simply stared.  
  
He smiled…not a real smile though, more like something she imagined a shark would smile if he could. A shark that smelled blood in the water. Her blood, she shivered. "So what's it going to take, Princess, to make you give it up?"  
  
Damn, she had had waaaay too much alcohol tonight. Her brain felt fuzzy. And it was really, really warm in here. Without thinking about it overmuch, she shrugged out of her navy blazer and sighed in relief as the air hit her in her sleeveless tank top. She didn't notice the man across from her draw his breath in, didn't notice his uneasy shift in his seat, or how his fingers lightly tapped the armrest of the chair.  
  
"It's my turn. I answered the question. So, Truth or Dare, Hunter?"  
  
"Dare." Without hesitation.  
  
She raised her eyes to his, leaned forward, completely unaware of how her hair fell across her face…hair that Hunter wished he could push behind her ear….she could play too….she was a McMahon after all. "I dare you to….pick truth next time."  
  
She'd thrown him on that one, she could see it. He nodded tightly. "Good." She murmured, sipping her drink again, nervously. He'd make her pay now. How?  
  
"Truth or Dare?" He demanded.  
  
"Dare." Somehow the word slipped out of her mouth against her will. But, oooh, she'd thrown him again. She drew herself up in the seat determinedly.  
  
"Dare? Heh. Allright…Stephanie, I dare you to…" He had had something in mind, but changed it at the last possible moment. He did, after all, want her to choose dare again in this game, when the stakes were even higher. So, something easy, something to lull her into a feeling of security was called for at present. "Stephanie McMahon, I dare you to…pick up that phone and tell Kurt Angle he's fired."  
  
"I can't do that! Kurt's one of the most talented men in the company!" She gasped.  
  
"Sure you can. It's real easy, you see? You just pick up the phone, and tell him he's fired." She just glared at him, slack-jawed, shaking her head no. He sighed, exasperated. "It's not like you have to actually fire him, Princess…just tell him he's gone and then in the morning, you can tell him you changed your mind. Okay?"  
  
"Oh. Well…okay." She said, picking up the phone and her address book from her purse. For some reason, Hunter found himself elated to discover she hadn't had Kurt's number memorized. It sent a warm thrill through his chest…but he tore himself from that train of thinking as he heard Stephanie begin talking. He got up and stood next to her, startling her when he half grabbed the phone in her hand so he could hear. He grinned, inches from her face and to both their surprise, she grinned back. "Yeah, Kurt, you heard me the first time. You're really fired. Noooo…I'm not kidding. I'm really not. You're so totally fired." She said happily as she hit Hunter on his huge bicep for laughing, his huge chest shaking his entire body.  
  
"Who else is there with you? I hear laughing!" Kurt whined.  
  
"No one is laughing at you, Kurt! It's the t.v. I'm watching Dick Clark, the Backstreet Boys are on and people are laughing on the t.v. at the curly haired guy singing." She said smoothly, shaking with her own laughing now. She continued hitting Hunter with her free hand, trying to pummel him into behaving, but his eyes merely looked at her with amusement…and something else she couldn't quite read….  
  
"Curly-Haired Guy? That's N'Sync, Steph! Justin Timberlake is in N'Sync, not Backstreet Boys!" Hunter's eyes widened as he heard this and he fell to the floor, literally giggling so hard he was red. Stephanie couldn't help it anymore, she snorted rudely, and began choking on her drink she had just sipped once again. "Look—Kurt—I'm not going to debate—debate bands with you!" She gasped out. "Just…you're fired! So….yeah! Really, really fired! Don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out! Goodbye, Kurt." She clicked off the phone and continued to choke when Hunter pulled her onto the floor next to her and hit her on the back, trying to help her stop coughing.  
  
"Oh, God! He…he….N'Sync!" She couldn't finish, she was laughing so hard tears poured down her flawless face. Hunter suddenly stopped laughing altogether and with a weird expression, he leaned into her and…licked her tears off her cheek.  
  
She stopped dead. "What are you doing?" She whispered.  
  
"I don't know anymore." He whispered back, still licking.  
  
Stephanie pushed against his chest and rose unsteadily to her feet. She blinked hard, and walked back over to her seat on the couch. She didn't sit down though, just picked up her blazer and turned to Hunter. "It's getting late. I really ought to be going to bed now."  
  
"Yeah, right. It's..." Hunter stole a glance at the television "only 11:54 now. We have six more minutes to go. Sit back down." He told her.  
  
"I'm tired. I want to go to bed." She said quietly.  
  
"In six minutes. But nobody should spend New Year's Eve alone…nobody should ring in a new year alone, Stephanie."  
  
"What does it matter?" She demanded.  
  
"Don't you know?"  
  
"Know what?"  
  
"That how you ring in the New Year is how you'll spend the rest of the next year. It's like…a karma thing."  
  
"That's…that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, Hunter."  
  
"Well, what if it's true? You don't want to spend the whole next year all alone, now do you?"  
  
"As opposed to spending it with you? It works for me." She retorted, trying to move past him, and of course, not being able to move past his huge bulk. She couldn't believe she had let her guard down enough for him to be able to do this.  
  
"Just shut up, will you? Face it, you're stuck here for the night Princess." He growled.  
  
"I agreed to spend New Year's Eve with you in the hotel room, and then I was going to go back out clubbing, remember? For the night? Oh, no, I don't think so! I am going!"  
  
"Not in your condition, you aren't!"  
  
Oh. She had been drinking an awfully lot…she looked down at her keys doubtfully. Okay. He was right about that at least. She shouldn't drive herself. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket.   
  
"What are you doing?" He demanded.  
  
"Calling a cab." She informed him haughtily. She didn't understand the sudden glimmer in his eyes, the quick smile on his face. One moment later, she did understand.  
  
"What the hell do you mean, two hours! I want a taxi now!" She yelled at the operator.   
  
"It is sort of a busy night for them, Princess." Hunter said smugly.  
  
"Fuck off."  
  
"Such language, my, my my. What would daddy say?" He mocked.  
  
"Shut up." She said, throwing herself into her chair once more. He took the seat directly opposite of her. "It is my turn you know." He said softly.  
  
"What?" She asked, having completely forgotten about their little game.  
  
"I choose…truth." He smiled softly at her.  
  
Stephanie shuddered at the cold voice. "I don't want to play anymore."  
  
"Finish it." He demanded.  
  
"I don't—"  
  
"Finish it! It's your turn!" He said angrily, opening a bottle of scotch.  
  
"I told you, I don't—"  
  
"And I told you—"  
  
"Fine! I forgot, you're The Game she sneered. You always finish your games…my God, do you even like me?" She screamed. Hunter dropped the bottle of scotch and they both watched it tumble to the floor..   
  
"What?" Low, low voice, dangerous voice, and why the hell had she asked that?!  
  
"Just—ignore it. I'm sorry, I don't know why I even—"  
  
"Like you? Like you? Fuckin like you? You are…I...oh, God!" Hunter screamed, picking up his scotch bottle and throwing it across the wall, causing Stephanie to flinch.  
  
"You're asking me that? I can't even believe you are…you have to ask that?!" Hunter sank into his huge chair, apparently stunned and rubbing his eyes, running his hand through his hair and leaning his head back and staring at the ceiling. "Fuckin' like her…she asks if I fuckin' like her…" He whispered to the ceiling.   
  
Stephanie sat still in her seat, completely stunned by his outburst.  
  
She was even more startled when he suddenly moved, crossing the distance between their chairs before she could even blink. She gripped her armrest tightly as he knelt at her feet on the floor. He pulled her chin up, forcing her eyes to look at his face. She stared back at him hard.  
  
"Yes. Yes, Stephanie. I do…like you. That's…that's a word for it." He said rather bitterly.  
  
"Are you implying there—that there's a better word for it?" She asked.  
  
"Always putting words in my mouth."  
  
"Do I?"  
  
"Yes…when there are so many other things you could be putting in—" Stephanie stopped him when she swiveled toward the t.v.  
  
"They're doing the countdown." She said, always having loved watching the ball drop in Times Square. Hunter watched her raptured face, bathed in the glow of the television. "Three…two…" She softly chanted with the crowd.  
  
"…One." Hunter finished, pulling her back to face him and kissed her smoothly on the lips. He felt her give into the kiss immediately, softening her arms as they moved around his back and he eased the strap of her tank top over her shoulder, allowing him better access to her neck.  
  
"Happy New Year, Steph…My—turn—" He gasped. "Truth—or—"  
  
"Dare!" She returned quickly, closing her eyes tightly, loving the feel of his body crushing her into the cushiony chair.  
  
"Tell me you want me."  
  
"I want you. I want you so badly, Hunter…I lo—it's your turn…Truth or--"  
  
"Dare!"  
  
"I dare you to tell me you want me too!"  
  
"Princess…I want you more than I've wanted anything…probably ever." He lied. There was no 'probably'….  
  
"Ohhhh…." She cried into his ear. "Truth."  
  
"In Vegas? You weren't really drunk, were you? You knew—you knew the whole time what you were doing, didn't you?"  
  
She stopped still. "Yes. I knew." She whispered finally, and was relieved when his arms tightened even more around her body.  
  
"Truth or Dare?" She demanded. She knew what she wanted him to choose. She knew what she wanted him to do.  
  
He looked down into her bright, impossibly blue eyes, saw she was ready for this now, she was ready for the truth, finally.   
  
"Dare…" He whispered.  
  
This was going to be one hell of a year, he realized.


End file.
